Fusion performance of shirabyoshi in Gothenburg, Sweden

mars 31, 2012

Dust falling, Rain falling, premiere 4th of April 2012

Choreographer Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt creates a performance (premiere April 4th, Gothenburg) investigating class and gender of historic female street performers Shirabyoshi, who, trained in music, dance and poetry, performed dressed like men with sword, long hakama pants and a tall hat. How did they move? How did they manage their ambiguous position belonging both to the streets and the court? They could easily be replaced and thus lose social position, home and income. Ami is exploring the border between modern dance expression and the classical, ritual Japanese Buyo dance. Two musicians/composers contribute their perspectives to the performance: Kumiko Nonaka (Kyoto) constantly widens the range and outreach of the noh-kan flute, bringing intimate knowledge and new melodies to her audience. Palle Dahlstedt (Gothenburg) combines studies in Noh music with advanced Western composition training and state-of-the art electronic music research. The objectives are to create an artistic synthesis, to bring it to a new audience and to show how these old artistic expressions can live – not only as a conserving museal craft, but as a powerful part of contemporary artistic expression.

The performance is played at the dancestage Tredje Våningen in Gothenburg, Sweden.